Thursday, June 30, 2011

Today we are checking out an awesome traditional half-sleeve by Charlie Foos at Reade Street Tattoo Parlour. I spotted it on Andrea outside of the Fuse studios on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan:

Andrea told me this was completed in three sessions of three and a half hours each and was inspired by s piece of jewelery. "I bought this pendant of a ship," she said, "and I decided I wanted a half-sleeve of something traditional." The rest is history.

Thanks to Andrea for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I stumbled across this tattoo online, and I haven't seen on your blog before. It is supposed to say "Ride Hard Die Free" but as you can see Google Translate made a creative interpretation of the phrase. I hope you enjoy it!

Grammatically speaking, this tattooed phrase is Chinese, however its translation back to English is far from "Ride Hard Die Free".

Granted, 免費 does mean "free of charge", 乘坐 does mean "riding, or being passenger", 硬 does mean "hard", but 模 or 硬模 is not verb for "die, or dying". Rather it is the noun "die" as in "die-casting" or "die-molding".

I guess this young man is quite proud and wants everyone to know he enjoys "freely shoving die-casted figurines up his ass"?

A couple weeks ago, I felt like I had won the Tattoosday lottery. In my own neighborhood, I ran into Kerry, who had a bit of a tattoo peeking out of her left sleeve. I stopped her and introduced myself, and she shared some simply phenomenal work. We'll get to that left sleeve in a second, but Kerry figured I'd be impressed with this tattoo on her upper right arm:

Well, she was certainly right about that! This is a piece by Anil Gupta at Inkline Studio in Manhattan. The detail of this work is astonishing.

Anil Gupta is considered a master of the biomechanical tattoo. Kerry explained:

"I'd seen Gupta's work and I really wanted something in the biomechanical style ... I just thought of a butterfly, which is usually something very feminine and soft, just made it out of parts and steel ... like a cool mix of the styles ... we just kept building and adding more stuff to the design ... he was great to work with."

To get a full appreciation of the tattoo, check out the work from Gupta's portfolio. Simply stunning!

That's twenty-five hours of work by a master of the biomechanical.

Remember, it wasn't the Gupta tattoo that caught my attention, but this colorful section of a sleeve, on the lower part of Kerry's left arm:

"I saw this picture when I was looking up samurai stories, because I'm a martial artist and, initially, we were just going to do it half-sleeve, but then just decided to go whole hog. Kaz is really good, so I just let him go crazy with it."

Kerry's focus in martial arts is grappling and kick-boxing.

And to think, I would have missed all of this amazing work, had I not been intrigued by the head of this Japanese monster, peeking out from one of her sleeves!

Thanks to Kerry for sharing her simply stunning tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

At the beginning of the month, I had the pleasure of encountering a young lady named Nicole in Herald Square (34th Street and 6th Avenue, for you out-of-towners).

Nicole is heavily inked, estimating that "about 45%" of her body is tattooed.

So with so much work, where to begin? She offered up her lower left leg, which is fully-sleeved.

I always find photographing sleeves challenging, because it is so hard to capture all of the details accurately and perfectly in a photograph. So here's a collage of Nicole's Candyland sleeve:

Why a Candylamd-themed sleeve? Nicole explained,

"Growing up, that was my favorite game in the whole world.

Getting my tattoos never really meant anything, so that was kinda the one, like, childhood thing . . . I feel like if you're a girl, you should have pretty, colorful tattoos ... otherwise, you don't look 'girly' anymore.

Nicole informed me that Brian had moved to California, but he comes back and forth every six months. She did say that, although this work is solely from Brian, she also gets tattooed by Justin Weatherholtz at Kings Avenue Tattoo in Massapequa, New York.

Thanks to Nicole for sharing her incredibly colorful leg sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!

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Monday, June 27, 2011

This installment of Musician Monday features Doug Robinson, lead singer from the rock band The Sleeping. I ran into Doug last week in Penn Station and stopped him when I saw all of his tattoos.

Doug has had some of his work featured in Tattoo Magazine and is in the current issue of Tattoo Flash, so I was indeed honored when he agreed to share a piece from his right forearm:

Doug explained that this tattoo is based on a logo created by a friend of his, whose grandfather had passed away and left him his house. Doug's friend, along with Doug and three other guys, lived in the house which they dubbed "Gramp's House." The home was, as Doug told me, "a really important place for all of us," and many of them got this logo tattooed, as a tribute to that special place that they all held near and dear.

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Friday, June 24, 2011

In yesterday's post, I talked about meeting Corey and Jessica in front of Penn Station, and we featured two of Corey's tattoos. Today it's Jessica's turn.

She praised to no end the tattoo artist who did this sugar skull, her friend Chris Handford at Perkins Road Parlor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

"They do a lot of traditional and he's originally a painter, so we just said, 'Do Whatever," and he drew up these awesome things ... he's actually a really new artist, but I would say already, skills-wise, far beyond a lot of people who have been doing it longer, especially in the South."

"[Richard Hart] is excellent at photo-realism. I found this ... it's from a movie called Scream and Scream Again (1970).

I just loved it and he drew it up on the spot ... I've never seen anyone just draw it, make a quick stencil, look at a computer, and then go off the picture itself. It looks exactly like the picture; I mean, it's insane. Insane. He's definitely awesome!"

It's always great to hear tattooed folk talk so exuberantly about how much they like their artists, and it was certainly nice to encounter some talent from a part of the country we don't see too often up here in New York.

Thanks to Jessica (and Corey) for sharing their tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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Thursday, June 23, 2011

I met Corey and Jessica last month outside of Madison Square Garden on a bright, sunny afternoon. Between the two of them, they have dozens of tattoos, so I had a lovely time chatting with them. They're originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and had been tattooed by a couple of artists who are friends of theirs working out of Perkins Road Parlor.

Corey, who has 14 or 15 tattoos, just asked them to draw him something and they did. This sabre-toothed tiger and his newest piece, the spider, about two weeks old in this photo, have a very traditional feel about them. I particularly love the yellows in the spider.

Thanks to Corey for sharing these tattoos with us! Check back tomorrow to see what Jessica had to offer!

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I spotted Kathy walking in front of Madison Square Garden, near the corner of Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street earlier this month and, although I couldn't see specifically what she had going with her tattoos, I was intrigued enough to ask.

Some folks are often dismissive of me when I approach them, but Kathy was the total opposite. She was joyful and excited to share her ink and, when she removed her outer layer and adjusted her tank top, it was abundantly clear why. She had recently embarked on a full back piece and was proud of the foundation for what is ultimately going to be a phenomenal work of art:

Kathy had enlisted Derek Noble of Lucky Devil Tattoo Parlor in Seattle to create this tattoo. She explained, "he's really into horror, traditional, and all that kind of stuff, so I went to him back in January."

Kathy is an interior designer with twelve tattoos and agreed to share the back piece in its early stage (approximately three and a half hours in). She has tentatively agreed to keep us posted when she heads back to Seattle at the end of the summer so that we can see the work develop.

She explained further:

"I broke my back about two years ago, so I figured I'd make something nice out of a bad thing. There's little vertebrae holding candles and I love zombies ... I gave [Derek Noble] the time period, I said I wanted something Jack the Ripper era, and he went full out for it. I saw [the design] the day of, and I never even thought I wouldn't like it."

Well we here at Tattoosday can't wait to see how this turns out. With just the outlines, the piece looks incredible and, well, it's Derek Noble, after all, so we know it's going to turn out magnificently.

Thanks to Kathy for sharing the early stage of her new back piece with us here on Tattoosday! I know we can't wait to see more!

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Last week, on Eighth Avenue, I spotted an incredible tattoo on the back of a woman's calf and knew that I had to speak to her about it. Check it out:

This vintage typewriter belongs to Emily, and was tattooed by one of my favorite artists in New York, Virginia Elwood at New York Adorned. You can click the tag at the bottom of the post to see other work of Virginia's that I have been fortunate enough to spot in my Tattoosday travels.

Emily explained that she is a writer, and wanted a vintage typewriter inked to represent her vocation. My guess she had decided on one of these Royal typewriters, and then Virginia worked her magic. Emily elaborates:

"I asked her originally to give me a little typewriter on top of the books here:

but there wasn't enough room ... [Virginia] was like It'll be too small if I put it on your arm, we'll have to do a big one to get the best detail."

The rest, as they say, is history.

Emily has nine tattoos in all, counting a half-sleeve as one large piece, and all of her work has been done by Virginia.

Emily is managing editor for a website called xoJane, and has even written about her tattoos. She directed me to this article she recently wrote, called "My Tattoos Make Guys Think I'm Easy." She's got a smart style that really taps into the heart and soul of the subject. I'm sure many tattooed women can relate to the sentiment in that piece. She also pointed to a more current article she wrote, with some input from Virginia, as well, about sexism in tattoo shops, specifically with the drama in the premiere (and subsequent episodes) of the latest tattoo reality series, New York Ink.

I, for one, certainly recommend checking out Emily's site, xoJane, and exploring not only her contributions, but those of the other writers, as well.

Thanks to Emily for sharing her incredible work with us here on Tattoosday, and for talking with me, even though she was running late. I do appreciate it and hope we'll see more of her tattoos here in the future!

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Monday, June 20, 2011

Last fall, I met Orlando near F.I.T. and posted some of his tattoos in December. I had wanted to get clearer photos, but I hadn't been able to contact him, so his work appeared here, in an end-of-the-year recap.

Fast forward to a month ago, when I spotted Orlando again on the corner where I work, so I was able to get a clearer photo of one of his tattoos, and obtain something new from him.

I was waiting until this week to post the picture, to coincide with Pride Week here in New York City.

Orlando explained that these are antlers and he got them for a specific reason:

"I got it last year when I was 19 ... antlers, for the animals who have them, are a symbol of strength and sexuality ... I came out when I was 13, so last year that would have been six years ago. So I got it just to commemorate me coming out, and I got "BRAVE" underneath it for it being the bravest thing I've ever had to do."

I wanted to share this during Pride Week as a tribute to Orlando's bravery, and with the hope that it helps instill courage in other people to be proud of who they are, and to not be ashamed of their true selves. I don't often get up on a soapbox here on Tattoosday, so I'll spare you the rhetoric, Dear Readers. Nonetheless, I want to thank Orlando for his bravery and his willingness to share a bit of his journey with us here on Tattoosday.

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Friday, June 17, 2011

I met Delphine last week and she shared two of her tattoos with me. First is this piece:

For those of you who do not recognize this image, it is a common piece of ceramic sculpture popular in Japanese culture called the "Maneki Neko," or Lucky Cat. It is a good luck charm, and is often seen in Asian-owned stores as a totem of good fortune. Delphine explained further that this was her most recent piece and that "I have always loved the Japanese Lucky Cat. I felt that this would be a great time to get it (due to the economy - cat has a prosperity in Kanji) and as a tribute to the Japanese that were affected by the Tsunami)."

This tattoo is attributed to Anthony Gonzalez at Lucky Stars Tattoo in San Jose, California. Delphine explains, "My father and I are Marine Vets. I saw this Sailor Jerry piece and loved it to honor my father and me. On the original piece it says 'Never Again'. I updated this to 'Never Forget' - the 'forget' is done in red to look like spray paint."

Thanks to Delphine for sharing these two tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

I met Vaughn in the Borders in Penn Plaza and he shared this half-sleeve with us. It's one of four tattoos that he has. He wanted a sleeve representing the intermix of the elements fire and water, and John Clarke at Holeshot's Premium Tattoo & Body Piercing in Amherst, Massachusetts came up with the design. Work from Holeshot's has appeared once before on Tattoosday, here.

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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I met Jay in Penn Station, stopping him because he had a whole lot of tattoos. He estimated that he is probably 60 to 70 percent covered. He offered up his most recent work (as of May 31, 2011), the following tattoos:

Jay explained that, as a Christian, and as a pastor at the Revolution Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, faith and doubt are two things that he deals with on a regular basis. Jay expounded on this for me:

"I got [these tattoos] because of this quote by Paul Tillich [a German-American theologian] that says doubt is not the opposite of faith, it's merely an element of it. And to me, being a believer, a Christian, having a church and a bar ... I deal a lot with crisis of faith, even in my own life ... So, I decided to embrace doubt, because I think embracing doubt allows you to embrace your faith much more. And it's not about belief then, you know, it is actually faith and everyone doubts ... I think there is this kind of idea that if you doubt, you're bad or something, so it kinda has to do with that."

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

I met Tim back in April in Penn Station and took several pictures of his left arm, which is fully-sleeved. What follows is a presentation of the work, from top to bottom:

There's a lot going on here, but Tim summed the theme of the sleeve as "Hell is the world we're living in, and we're all trying to escape Death." The top of the arm features the angel, Gabriel, watching over us.

The city that is burning is based on Boston, where Tim is from.

Tim estimates that this sleeve took twenty-seven hours, in three nine-hour sessions. Yes, you read that right, nine-hour sessions! That's commitment! He credits Dan Soule at Milltown Ink in Bondsville, Massachusetts with this incredible work.

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Monday, June 13, 2011

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the death of Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins, so it seems appropriate to share the following tattoo, courtesy of Salvatore:

Located on his upper right arm, Salvatore explained that his family emigrated from Europe several generations ago. His grandfather joined the service when he was a young man and served in World War II. His travels brought him, at some point, through Honolulu where, according to Salvatore, his grandfather received the original version of the tattoo above, from none other than Sailor Jerry himself. The design above is a replica of Slavatore's grandfather's tattoo, a Sailor Jerry original.

Not only is he carrying a piece of traditional tattoo history on him, he is also honoring the memory of his grandfather. How cool is that?

Salvatore is a chef at One if by Land, Two if by Sea, a restaurant in New York's West Village. He is also a personal chef for several mixed martial arts fighters.

The Sailor Jerry piece above, as well as his left arm, which is fully-sleeved, was tattooed by Elio Espana, formerly of Flyrite Tattoo. Elio now works upstate at ADK Tattoo in Constable, New York.

Thanks to Salvatore for sharing this wonderful tattoo, that celebrates both an American tattoo master, and a family patriarch, here on Tattoosday.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

I was riding my bike along the water and the Belt Parkway in South Brooklyn last month, when a woman passed me on her roller skates, headed in the other direction.

I quickly reversed directions and caught up with her because I wanted to ask her about her half-sleeve:

It's really quite stunning, and I was interested in who was the artist responsible for this work. Tara credited Christian Masot at Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, New Jersey. I've seen a lot of cool stuff come out of the shop and Christian was responsible for the work on the last two people I've met having been inked there. Check out all the Silk City work that has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

As for Tara, she's a Roller Derby Girl, who skates under the handle PMA, with the number 24/7, because she has a Positive Mental Attitude, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

She explained, "I was going through a lot of stuff in my life a couple years ago and finally I had clarity ... so the lotus symbolizes ... clarity."

As for the butterfly, Tara told me that her butterflies "symbolize change and freedom."

Tara elaborated, saying that she brought three pictures in for reference [there's a monarch butterfly on her inner arm] and Christian "made it his own," in part by adding the design that represents the wind.

When I asked Tara how many tattoos she has, she said, "I lost count."

Thanks to Tara for sharing these stunning tattoos with us here on Tattoosday! Keep on skating with that positive mental attitude!

If you want to see more of Tara's ink, you can glimpse it on various videos on her YouTube channel here. She talks a lot about Vegan and Gluten-free recipes. I'm including one below that features her skating on the Shore Road promenade where I met her:

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Friday, June 10, 2011

Talking to her in Penn Station, Amanda explained that she was "really interested in the Japanese style".

She received the tattoo from Pat James Dean at Tattooville, in Neptune, New Jersey. Done in two sessions, Amanda told me that she selected Pat, in part, because he had his whole back inked in the traditional Japanese fashion. I'm going to take a leap and say it might have been by Horiyoshi III of Yokohama, based on a reference in his bio on the Tattooville site.

Thanks to Amanda for sharing this, one of four tattoos she has, with us here on Tattoosday.

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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Last month, my lovely wife Melanie was hospitalized with appendicitis. A bummer by all accounts, but on one occasion, when I left Maimonides Medical Center to grab a slice of pizza, I ran into a guy on Fort Hamilton Parkway named Nadir, whose forearm tattoo jumped out at me:

Nadir is an Angeleno transplanted here in the Big Apple, but he wears his hometown on his sleeve. The distinct LA logo, most commonly seen on the apparel associated with the Los Angeles Dodgers, is a sign of civic pride. He credits Mikey Montoya, from Rube's Tattoo in Arcadia (east of Pasadena), with this piece.

Nadir also shared this tattoo, from the left side of his chest:

If that looks familiar, it is because it is the logo at the center of the Mexican flag.

Nadir explained that his father always listened to the musical group Los Tigres del Norte, and he grew up with their music playing in his home. He considers this also as an apt tribute to his heritage and upbringing.

He credits this incredible piece, which took six hours to complete (no easy feat, considering it's on his ribs), to Tom Tilden, co-owner of the aforementioned Rube's Tattoos, in Arcadia.

Thanks to Nadir for sharing his awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

I met Zoe a couple weeks ago when I spotted an incredible bird tattoo creeping up over her shoulder:

What's especially mesmerizing about this tattoo is where it begins:

Starting in the middle of her back, this flock of birds lifts up off of her flesh, and flies over her shoulder.

So from where did the inspiration for this tattoo come? Zoe explains:

"I stole the color combination and the silhouetted birds from my favorite album [Deja Entendu by Brand New].

I went in [to Name Brand Tattoo in Ann Arbor, Michigan] and gave [tattoo artist Dawn Cooke] the music and said this is why ... it helped me get through a really bad point in my life. I told her what I wanted and she figured out the placement on my body. I originally wanted it straight across my back, but she worked with my body to get it on there ... after three hours of tattooing, I asked her if she put coloring in and she did. It's all free-hand."

The tattoo took four hours in all to complete, and Zoe had nothing but praise for the artist and the shop. Name Brand, she said, "is great, super-relaxed ... they weren't judgmental [and] tend to have people with art degrees, which is really interesting." Artist Dawn Cook has moved, however, and now tattoos out of Depot Town Tattoo, in Traverse City, Michigan.

Thanks to Zoe for sharing her amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Asa an added treat, here's a track from Brand New, from the album that helped inspire this body art:

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Monday, June 6, 2011

Last week, while passing through Penn Station, I ran into Sly, one of the vocalists from an up-and-coming band called Sloburn.

Sly shared this, one of her seven tattoos:

Sly explained:

"I'm more of a spiritual person. The tattoo is Mary. I'm Catholic, for one thing, but I like wearing rosaries and this is something I don't have to worry about if I forget my rosary. She's always on me. That's one of the reasons I got that, and in commemoration of my mother, who raised me that way too."

She was in New York with Sloburn to do The Real Radio Show. Sly joked, it's Sloburn, with NO "w". "Remember," she said, "we took the 'w' out to whup your ass with."

Sloburn is a Danville, Virginia band that has been together for about four years. Sly told me that Twisted Sister's management contacted them based on a YouTube video, brought them to New York, and they are hoping to explode on the scene with their brand of, what their Facebook page calls, "redneck metal."

Here's a little Sloburn to get your blood flowing on this Musician Monday:

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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Marilyn Monroe is a pretty popular figure to see tattooed on people. Clicking here will show you this, as well as every other post on Tattoosday that features a Marilyn Monroe tattoo. In the popularity contest, she wins by a mile.

It was with great pleasure that, a couple weeks back, one of my co-workers, Mary, got on the elevator at the end of the day, and the first thing I noticed was this fresh Marilyn Monroe tattoo, peering up at me from her right foot:

Of course, I had to ask Mary about this tattoo. Our exchange follows:

Tattoosday: Why’d you get Marilyn on your foot?

Mary: Anybody who knows me can answer that question. I love Marilyn and I wanted to put it in a spot that can showcase it without being on my forearm or my face or my neck and it seems to be a hit where it is.

Tattoosday: This is your first Marilyn tattoo?

Mary: Well, if you don’t count the mole I have. A tattoo of a mole.

Tattoosday: Oh, so that’s not a real mole?

Mary: Yes.

Tattoosday: So who is the artist?

Mary: It’s a shop that everyone in my neighborhood goes to, it’s called Eddie's Ink on Myrtle Avenue in Queens…I guess he has a following because he just moved from Brooklyn to Queens and everybody recommended him . . . it’s not like it’s in a spot that I can cover up, unless it’s winter, so I wanted to make sure it was a good job and he went online and I told him exactly what I wanted and he found a couple of pictures and we ended up settling on this one. I didn’t want color, I just wanted black…”.

I alluded to the popularity of the Marilyn tattoo at the beginning of the post. That said, I have to commend Mary on her originality, as I hadn’t seen one like this before. Thanks go to her for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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Saturday, June 4, 2011

Religious tattoos are quite common, as any casual observer of other people's tattoos can tell you. Generally, I don't ask people about them, but every so often I feel inclined, especially when I think they're done nicely.

Take Vincent, for example. I met him in Penn Station and took a picture of this cross on his forearm:

Vincent explained that he drew this design, incorporating Celtic designs, as an acknowledgement of his faith (represented by the cross and the circle, symbolizing the Trinity) and his heritage. His father's ancestry is Welsh, and his mother's family is Italian.

The tattoo was done by at Sacred-X-Pressions in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He doesn't recall the tattooist's name, but does know he has moved on from that shop.

Thanks to Vincent for sharing his expression of faith and heritage with us here on Tattoosday!

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